6:17 pm　うまい！Y

Happy Birthday to Me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meeeeeeeeee, happy birthday to me! Yesh, my birthday was yesterday and for those of you who have forgotten..ah hem *clear throat, pull up sleeve* haha.. just kidding la! For those who remembered, thanks! I'm so touched that you remembered even when I'm in a foreign land! At least I'm not forgotten.. *sob sob*

Labels: my bdae

3:24 pm　うまい！Y

12:15 pm　うまい！Y

It's freezing up here! I slept through the night shivering while a storm brewed outdoors! Too lazy and too alone to get up in the dark, I just froze curled up like a prawn, never thinking of getting the sleeping bag as an extra protection. Alas! The result = full blown flu with a blocked nose and a nasty head. 12 degree celsius in NJ shorts and a t-shirt. I am incredible.

That aside, there was sad news with regards the the state of the world, albeit a smaller world in west france. A welsh couple whom I know at my French course had a sad story to relate. On the Sunday that had just passed, the couple saw flames at their neighbour's house. The door was barred and Jean-Louis, the neighbour, was inside the house, clutching frantically to his rifle. He was in a highly emotional state and it was a horrifying sight. Since the Welsh couple couldn't speak much French, they rushed to their neighbours' for help. The neighbour came out, armed with a rifle as well. Jean-Louis at this point came out of the house and threatened people not to go close. He was then shot in his stomach by the neighbour. The firemen came and while waiting for instructions from their superiors, did nothing but watched the houses burn down before they took further action. The Welsh couple called the ambulance. It came, one hour later. Luckily the Welsh man knew first aid and did all he could to sustain the life of Jean-Louis. The gendarmes came and looked around for the gun man, while Jean-Louis was writhing in pain with his gunshot wound clutching tightly to the fingers of the Welsh man. He is now recuperating in intensive care.

Apparently, Jean-Louis tried to burn down his own house with himself in it. His wife was taken ill to a state that she could no longer stay with him and needs to be warded. Out of depression, he withdrew all his money from the bank and it was said that he burned them together with the house and himself. The rifle was to deter anyone from coming to his aid. Sadly, he was shot by a French neighbour which the Welsh couple went to ask for help. No neighbours came out to see the commotion. No one cared. It was the Welsh couple alone who stepped out to help and it was highly traumatising for them. Although they have seen a lot of thing in their lives since they are now in their retirement years, it was still nauseating and they felt a little sick. It was a sad weekend and it was really tragic. The state of the world, the state of affairs and the state of depression of the guy.

People do things with various intentions and with the state of the world and people undergoing depression, it is no wonder more psychologists are needed to counsel and lead people to see the light.I realised how safe Singapore is and how right it is to ban guns and such armoury. We use arms for self defence and not to attack. If you have a weapon which you use it to injure others in the name of self defence, where can we actually draw the line. Jean-Louis in this case, would not possibly pull the trigger as he just wanted to be left alone to die. The neighbour, regardless of anything, just fired the shot in the name of salvaging the situation. Who's wrong and who's right, I will leave you to judge for yourself.

However, the most important thing to live in France is to stay healthy. Granted, some doctors are really nice and are specialists in their area of study, but if it takes one hour for an ambulance to arrive, well, we better don't count on it too much. Likewise for everyone, health is the most important thing. Without it, how are we going to enjoy the world?

Labels: cold and tragic weekend

12:11 pm　うまい！Y

This comes with a red porte-jarretelle

The village's"Galette de Roi" session

She looks bored....

I was hungry, so tucked in first =)

The little King

Yummilicious cider! Must taste the "Brut" one ok?

A very cute little french girl!


The little feve...

Labels: funny pic, galette de roi

1:32 pm　うまい！Y

Hi everyone!! It's been a long time yet again! How's everyone doing? The snow is not here yet! When is it going to snow? I don't like global warming! It is delaying the seasons! Everything is being shifted further and further back! Arghhh! I'm sure it's going to snow in February when I'm going to Singapore! Arghh! Please snow for me please! For a snow-deprived girl who has been living on the equator for all these years, please heavens, give me a romantic snowy new year before I leave for Singapore please? Okay, this may seem overly dramatic, but I've never exactly seen any city shrouded in a lot, a lot, a lot of snow before. The brief encounter in 2004 doesn't count! Will hold on to my hope and hopefully the snow will fall soon! I remembered when I was 15, a penpal from Long Island sent me a bottle of snow via airmail. Of course, when it reached me, all that remained was yellow water. Yeah. How sad. Impurities and all reduced pure white snow to such a state - Yellow water. Yet, it's the thought that counts after all. Do I really have no fate with snow? Maybe will migrate to Antarctica or Finland just to see the snowy world! Just kidding!

Lots of things to update and I guess I will do them one by one. Let's see, the beginning of the year has been a flurry of activities. After the New Year Celebrations, we have the "Galette de roi", literally translated as the pie of the king! This festival takes place on the first Sunday of the new year or the 6th of January whichever comes first. The galette is a crusty pie with sweet stuffing, such as apple stuffing or other flavours like "frangipan" as they call it in French. I wonder if it's made from frangipani flowers? In fact, it's almost like a game. Hidden in the galette, is a little porcelain doll or figurine which we call "La Feve". The figurine can be anything from animals, ornaments or even the hottest character of the season like Harry Potter or Arthur from "Arthur and the Minimoys" The pie would then be cut into pieces and the youngest child of the family will crawl under the table and designate which piece to be given out to who. Each of us will then tuck in into the delicious pie and if you feel something goes "clack" between your teeth, hurray! You are the lucky one to be the King or Queen! You will then be crowned and you can pick your favourite person to be your King to share the glory with you. Everyone will make a commotion and other kiddos will be disappointed that they did not get the little figurine in the pie. Hahaha! It is really a very interesting festival and I got crowned for the first session this year. Yes, we have more than one galette session. The first is usually with your family and the village will also organise a "Galette de Roi" session which comes with free flow cider, rosé and red wine. Yeah, it's free and of course almost the entire village turned up. See, Singaporeans are not the only kiasu ones! Haha. Will pose pictures of the "Galette de Roi" later! Interesting isn't it? France and her traditions!

Well, enough about Galettes and it's time to tell you about miao's adventures in the dark french forest! Yeah! I rode through a dark, dark forest all alone one night and it was a true test of courage! Hahaha. Puts all the solo walks and solo nights during my NPCC days to shame. Mind you, I'm the first person to admit that I'm totally, absolutely scared of the dark. However, since it's the new year and we should always venture on exciting things, I decided to outdo myself and raise the barrier! Hey, I didn't do it for fun k! I had to pass through the forest if I need to get to my tutee's place! Just that usually, there's someone available to drive me! But that day, I muster all my courage to brave the journey myself with Black Beauty! That's my scooter's name of course! And guess what?! I made it! LOL! Imagine the countryside roads with no street lamps and me riding at 30km/h because I could hardly see 3m ahead of me! Luckily my night vision is great thanks to all the carrots that I've been eating and still eating and I could make out the road from the silhouette of trees! Goodness, the light of a scooter is nothing compared to that of a car. Furthermore, absent minded me didn't even use the strong headlights! Forgot as the switch was on the left of the handlebars. I only noticed the switch on the right! Haha, but it makes me seem all the more incredible! But it was awfully cold and I was scared shitless in fact! I was praying the whole time not to bum into a wild boar, not to be eaten by a fox, not to crash a rabbit nor to run over a deer as animals cross that road all the time! It took me a good hour to get home! Nothing ever comes close to the sense of achievement at the end of the journey! Light, warmth, hot spaghetti and hubby's bear hug! It was awfully cold as the wind seems to be like daggers, piercing right through my bones! It's really what we called "刺骨的寒风"! Yet the blissfulness felt at the end of the long journey is totally worth it! We must suffer a bit to realise the sweet joy of life or else we will end up taking life's events for granted! Talking about the forest, I saw a baby wild boar the other day when bro-in-law drove me to tuition! So cute, it was so small and pinkish as reflected from the headlights. It scampered across the road on its short legs and the legs really moved very fast! Hahaha! When I related the incident to Cindy, she laughed and said "yumyum.. suckling pig!" Funny, that was what I thought of too when I saw the wild boar! Haha! We are so warped! Ain't it weird that when we see pig, we think pork! Hahaha. The human race can be so savage at times eh?

Oh yah, been riding the scooter a lot these days. The feeling is like "Gone with the Wind", speeding down the road. Haha. "Speeding" down in fact because I have to run the scooter in for the first 500km. That means for the first 500km, I cannot ride more than 80 percent of the scooter's speed so as to prolong the engine life. Since Black Beauty is below 50cc that means I cannot ride more than 45km! Haha. Well, just another 300km to go since I covered 200km already! Her maximum speed is actually 80km/h but I think it's good enough for me! After all, we don't need a licence to ride that! Heh! However, I do feel like a snail on the road as all the big, menacing vehicles raced past me. In fact, a stupid lorry horned me today. I was following mum-in-law's car to make a right turning and the lorry turned at the same time. The lorry was on the outer lane and has no right to make a right turn and yet he horned me?!!! What kind of stupid logic is that? Mum-in-law said it was probably the car behind me that horned the lorry as the car driver couldn't turn with the lorry obstructing. Bro-in-law said I should show my finger to whoever horned at me! Haha. That would be rather funny though. My thick gloved middle finger! LOL! The french here showed it a lot I must say! In fact, in France, it's better not to horn anyone or else you will get shit. But goody-two-shoes me didn't show any finger at all but just rather pissed to be horned at. Sigh. Little me on little Black Beauty, facing off with a lorry and a car. Now you know why I always have the buddhist chain my grandmother gave me round my neck. I need lots of protection against French lorries! :)

Now that hubby has started his course in Caen, I'm alone upstairs during weekdays! That explains the scooter and the animes! Haha! It frees up a lot of time for me to do whatever I want and it's strange that when we have so much free time on our hands, we don't really know what to do with it. Yes, I still give tuition, feed the horses, wadding in mud and all and it's all really so nostalgic! My grandmother used to have a farm in Ponggol and I used to wear pretty little yellow boots to wad in mud and chicken poo poo and when I outgrew them, I had pretty little blue ones. Now my pair of boots is boring old black boots and no longer have cute cartoons on them. Furthermore, it is the low kind and sometimes *bit lip and scream* muddy water gets into them! Mum-in-law is gonna look for some tall green ones for me to walk freely in all that mud! It's really like quicksand you know? Once you are stuck, it takes a hell of an effort to get up of that muddy mess! Reminds me of OBS when our canoes are stuck in mud and my watch and me sank thigh deep into the mud! My instructor remarked that I was like GI Jane, the feminine version of GI Joe! Totally not funny! It was the worst camp of my life, that OBS. I was covered with nasty looking mosquito/sandflies bites and was sent home one day earlier as the instructor feared it was chicken pox! Crap! I already had chicken pox before but they were just a bunch of scaredy cats! Went through such a shitty camp and did not even receive the certificate personally! Sigh. It was a sad camp. I had to have an injection to counter all the bites and my GP did it at my butt (like injecting babies) as the volume to inject is too much and my thin arms are unable to support it. Don't worry, the area injected is just a little below the waist area, haha she did not see anything and I did not feel anything! Talking about injections, I had to be vaccinated again! According to FRENCH rules, (audible sigh) whatever injections I had taken in Singapore doesn't really count and I have to be vaccinated here, since there are probably more cows here and diseases that we have not much risk to in SG. I am one who is totally against injections and I do not understand anything. Worse still, my health booklet is in Singapore and the GP here told me that even if I have my health booklet, it doesn't change matters. I need to be revaccinated to reawaken the vaccines. Guess, I can't escape that then. =_=!

Been watching "Bleach" (Yeah yeah, I know I am slow and I only reached episode 70 only) and realised that everyone inside is so "Kakkoi" (cool!) I like the "BANKAI" feat and I think Ichigo is quite cool! I like Yachiru! She is soooo cute! I like the 8th squad captain, the frivolous one who's always flirting in a floral samurai robe and also Ukitake! I think Kuukaku is very cool too! Other animes watched are "Yami to boshi to hon to tabi bito" about how Adam created many worlds and kept them divided in books (meaning each book is a different world by itself" to protect his creation from the fighting Gods and how subsequently eve, her sister, ririsu and yami are born to take care of the great library of books consisting of all the worlds! It's quite nice after you watch the entire series but after watching, I can only conclude that the producer is a pervert who advocates incest and lesbianism! Totally disturbing notions! Haha. Japanese anime can be sooooo perverted at times but I must say "yami" is one of the most perverse ever!

I've also watched the Japanese series"one litre of tears" which opened the dam of my tear ducts. It's based on a true life account of a 15 year old girl, Aya, who suffered from Spinocerebellar Atrophy". She was a star basketballer who had just entered a prestigious high school and yet being inflicted with this disease, she would gradually lose her motor senses. She could not gauge distance, would stumble and fall directly on her face and lose control of her speech and end up wheel chair bound and lastly paralysed! It is such a moving story! Realised how much we really take our abilities for granted and never really acknowlege them. Like how we can walk without thinking and just taking everyday for granted. I think we should all really sit back and realise how wonderful our bodies are made and appreciate what we can do each and everyday by doing something new and exciting each and every day!

The long awaited "Du Zhe" has finally arrived! All the inspirational articles are so endearing. Things are better expressed and savoured in Chinese I think! Shall leave u a little gem of a cookie ----- 没有人拒绝微笑... :)

10:15 pm　うまい！Y

Cheers to all things good in the coming year! Three girls with very different styles, holding rosé in their hands, with the same sweet smile!

Labels: new year celebrations

6:55 pm　うまい！Y

Welcome!
MAY 2009 BRING U ALL THE HAPPINESS U SEEK!

MIAOKIBA
WE R GONNA EAT LOTS OF SUSHI!

♥Japanese food <3

THE ALARM CLOCK IN THE MORNING

World Domination!



AH SHENG
Mr Brown

July 2006
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November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
March 2007
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May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
October 2007
January 2008
March 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
July 2009

• Kissed by the Wind
• Journey of Self Discovery
• Miao Can Cook!
• HAPPY NIU YEAR, PULL UR EAR!
• Pre CNY Blues
• What a day
• Snow
• New Year Countdown 08
• HOT WINE
• Hello 2009


Credits
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Inspiration: DamnBlackRose
Rest by: vivianrawks
Image from: deviantart